Poems by Emily Dickinson - Three Series, Complete: With an Introductory Excerpt by Martha Dickinson Bianchi

By Emily Dickinson

First published in 1890, this volume contains all three series of “Poems by Emily Dickinson”, an extensive collection of Dickinson's very best poetry. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830–1886) was an American poet commonly hailed as being among the most important figures in American poetry. Not much is known about her personal life, but evidence suggests that this is because she spent most of her time isolated from other people. Those who lived around her claimed that she took to wearing only white apparel and rarely left her bedroom in her later years. Despite being a prolific writer who produced a corpus of over 1,800 poems, only 10 were published during her lifetime. Her poetry was considered unusual for her time, incorporating a variety of odd features and breaking many of the conventional rules. Contents include: “First Series - I. Life, II. Love, III. Nature, IV. Time and Eternity”, “Second Series - I. Life, II. Love, III. Nature, IV. Time and Eternity”and “Third Series - I. Life, II. Love, III. Nature, IV. Time and Eternity." A fantastic collection of classic poetry not to be missed by fans and collectors of Dickinson's seminal work. Ragged Hand is proud to be republishing this collection of classic poetry now complete with an introductory excerpt by Martha Dickinson Bianchi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: May 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781473374546

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life, but today is considered to be one of the most influential poets in American history.

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Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, western Massachusetts, USA. Her family were one of the most prominent in the state – her father, Edward Dickinson was a Yale graduate, successful lawyer, Treasurer for Amherst College and a United States Congressman. The Dickinsons were strong advocates for education and Emily benefited from an early education in classic literature, studying the writings of Virgil and Latin, mathematics, history, and botany.

In 1840, Dickinson entered Amherst Academy under the tutelage of scientist and theologian, Edward Hitchcock. She proved to be an excellent student, and in 1847, at the age of seventeen, Dickinson left for South Hadley, Massachusetts to attend the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. She stayed there less than a year, however, perhaps due to homesickness, and returned home. It was at this point that she began to write her first poems, and to adopt something of a reclusive lifestyle.

In 1862 Dickinson answered a call for poetry submissions in the Atlantic Monthly. She struck up a correspondence with its editor, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and the two of them became close friends. In the mid-sixties, she visited an eye-doctor in Boston, who forbade her to read or write. It would be the last time she ventured from Amherst, and by 1874, following the death of her father, she had stopped going out in public. Living out the rest of her life in solitude, she eventually began to suffer from Bright’s Disease, and died in 1886, aged 56.

Although many friends and fellow artists had encouraged Dickinson to publish her poetry, only a handful of them appeared publicly during her lifetime. Upon her death, her sister Lavinia found hundreds of them. Mostly written in pencil, only a few were titled, and many were unfinished. Gradually, her sister arranged them chronologically into collections for publication: Poems, Series 1 in 1890, Poems, Series 2 in 1891, and Poems, Series 3 in 1896.

In 1914, Dickinson’s niece published another of her collections. Even with the first few volumes her work attracted much attention. In 1955, Thomas H. Johnson published the first comprehensive collection of her poems in three volumes titled The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Including Variant Readings Critically Compared With all Known Manuscripts.

Today, Dickinson ranks amongst the greatest American poets of all time, and one of the most original writers of the 19th century. She is noted for her unconventional broken rhyming meter, frenetic punctuation, and bizarre use of metaphor. Amongst her most famous poems are ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’, ‘Heart, we will forget him!’, ‘I’m Nobody! Who are You?’, and ‘Wild Nights! Wild Nights!’

INTRODUCTORY EXCERPT

By Martha Dickinson Bianchi

She was not daily bread. She was star-dust. Her solitude made her and was part of her. Taken from her distant sky she must have become a creature as different as fallen meteor from pulsing star.

One may ask of the Sphinx, if life would not have been dearer to her, lived as other women lived it? To have been, in essence, more as other women were? Or if, in so doing and so being, she would have missed that inordinate compulsion, that inquisitive comprehension that made her Emily Dickinson? It is to ask again the old riddle of genius against everyday happiness. Had life or love been able to dissuade her from that ''eternal preoccupation with death which thralled her — if she could have chosen — you urge, still unconvinced? But I feel that she could and did, and that nothing could have compensated her for the forfeit of that single hound, her own

Reviews for Poems by Emily Dickinson - Three Series, Complete

[brightman-4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great for child and adult...

[1derlys · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Emily Dickinson is a delight to read. Her poems feel light and airy and with grace and beauty she paints little pictures with her words.

[ke141703 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: This is a collection of Emily Dickinsons best poetry. In the story she has a section of poems that describe something and you have to guress what she is talking about.Personal Response: This was a fun book to read. Even though poetry is not my thing I really did enjoy the stories in this book.Classroom Extension Ideas: You could read them a story and have them try to guess what she is describing. Also you could have the students pick their favorites and draw a picture about it.

[katiekirk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Summary:This is a collection of some of Emily Dickinson's poetry that can be enjoyed by children. Many of the poems in the collection are nature related. There are also some cute riddles in this book too. I like that the book has a short biography at the beginning too!Personal Reaction:This book is wonderful! I feel that this collection of Emily Dickinson poetry really has a peaceful sense about it. I really enjoyed it and I think that it's a great book to use to spark children's interest in poetry. I also enjoyed this simple illustration in this book.Classroom Extension Ideas:1. Like I said in my personal reaction, I think this book has a peaceful feel to it. Because of this, I think it would be good to use to help children calm down when transitioning from recess to classwork.2. This book has some cute short riddles. I think it would be fun to have children write their own short riddles after reading this book aloud.

[kdhayes06 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary- At the beginning of this book there is a short introduction about Emily Dickinson, her life, habits and style of poetry. This book contains 36 poems some of which are riddles. On some pages there are definitions of words that young people may not be familiar with. Each poem is vivid with descriptions and imagination. Sunsets are not merely sunsets but a woman sweeping the sky with colored brooms. Personal-This a prime example of Emily Dickinson’s abilities with words. It is a short collection that is sure to wet appetites to learn more about her and her work. There are wonderful poems about the seasons and all that you find within your surroundings. I can’t help but smile when reading a letter from a fly to a bee.Classroom Extensions-Literature: Excellent examples of iambic poetry to draw examples from when introducing the material.Poetry/Thinking Skills: Use a couple of the riddles found in this collection with a young class and see if they can guess what it is describing.Art/Poetry: Once again with the younger classes you can read one of the shorter more descriptive poems and then have the students draw a picture of what they imagined.